Her new home
by Andorra97
Summary: Six months after Matthew's death, Lady Rose arrives for her stay at Downton. Tom Branson happens to pick her up at the station in Ripon.


_I noticed that Tom Branson and Lady Rose haven't been in one single scene so far although they both were in episode 3.08 and have definitely met. So I thought I let them really talk for the first time when Rose arrives for her stay at Downton. I'm not hinting at a relationship between those two, since we don't know yet . But I can imagine them going along quite well once they talk to each other. I see both of them as very open people who wear their hearts on their sleeves._

_I thank Scarlet very much for her editing and thoughtful comments!_

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**Her new home**

As the train came into the station and slowly came to a stop, Tom Branson looked up from the newspaper he had been reading, leaning against a wall. He folded it, put it away and went to greet the blonde, young woman who was just stepping off the train.

"Hello, Lady Rose."

"Mr. Branson?" she smiled. "Nice to see you again. I'm surprised to see you here. I didn't expect family to greet me."

Tom smiled back. "I was in Ripon on business this morning. So I offered to pick you up. Is this your luggage?"

She nodded and he took the big suitcase. Tom pointed to the entrance. "This way. I parked the car right in front of the station."

There was an awkward silence at first, when they sat next to each other in the car, neither of them knowing what to say. Although they had met a little more than a year ago when Rose came to Downton to stay with the Dowager countess, they hadn't really talked much during that time. Tom had been occupied with his new job as the estate manager and Rose had been eighteen and they didn't seem to have much in comon. They had exchanged a few polite sentences, but nothing more.

"How is everyone at Downton? " Rose finally asked. "I suppose the house is still very sad..."

"The family was in deep shock as you can imagine." Tom answered. "And six months is not enough time to really recover after Sybil just the year before. It was terrible for all of us."

Rose hung her head. "I don't know how to face Mary," she admitted quietly. "I have no idea what to say..."

"There isn't much to say, really." Tom said. "I think, it will help Mary, Edith and Lady Grantham to have you here. It will distract Mary a bit and I can say from experience that this is the best way to cope."

Rose nodded and they drove in silence for a while.

"I didn't know what to say to you either, last year," she suddenly said. "That was why I avoided talking to you. I hope I didn't offend you."

Tom shook his head. "No. But I thought that maybe you didn't want to talk to an ex-chauffeur."

Rose's eyes widened. "No! It had nothing to do with that. I don't care for such things. It was just that..." she lapsed into silence.

"You know," she continued after a moment. "Sybil was the closest to me in age. We were pretty close when we grew up. I so admired her."

Tom smiled. "How was she as a child?"

"Feisty," Rose laughed. "Actually sometimes even wilder than I was and that means something! We had so much fun when we were children. Always running hiding from the nanny. And when we grew up, I followed her around like a little puppy and she had all kinds of secret mischief in her pretty head. She was always so pretty. I really wanted to look like her, but of course I didn't at all."

She looked down on her hands. "I was devastated when I heard the news. And then Matthew, too. To lose two such nice people. I couldn't believe it."

Tom said nothing, but she noticed the sad look that crossed his face. They were quiet for a while and she avoided looking at him by staring out of the window. Suddenly she remembered something.

"Actually I think Sybil might have mentioned you once."

Tom's eyes widened in surprise. "She did?"

Rose laughed slightly. "Now that I say it, I'm not entirely sure. It was the summer before the war started. Sybil mentioned that she had found a very "dear friend" at Downton. And of course I peppered her with questions. At first I thought it was just a girl from the neighbourhood, but then she admitted it was a man. I was intrigued!"

"Could have been me," Tom nodded. "We were becoming good friends by then. But maybe she was talking about some of her friends from the season."

Rose shook her head. "No, I'm sure she wasn't, because she made a big secret out of his identity and I kept pressing her to tell me,and then finally she made me promise that I wouldn't tell anyone and shared that her "friend" was a member of the staff."

Tom smiled. "Well, then it's clear. That was me. But there was nothing too scandalous about it. We were really only friends back then. I mean, at least she was. I was head over heels already." He chuckled.

Rose grinned. "Oh, I'm not so sure about that. I didn't know much about love then, being only twelve or thirteen. But I definitely got the impression that there was something special about that "friend" of hers. I was so curious!"

"I should have known that back then. It could have spared me a long time of guessing, not knowing and worrying," Tom grinned in return.

Rose smiled then she changed the topic and asked him how Sybbie was.

"She's wonderful," Tom said with pride. "She starts talking more and more and I think she is the most adorable little girl in the world, but I'm probably biased."

Rose laughed. "I wouldn't expect no less from a father. And Master Crawley?"

"He's doing well, too. He's a strong little fellow and I think he gives Mary a lot of strength to manage. I know Sybbie did that for me. No matter how sad you are, when those little ones smile at you, you can't help but smile back."

They passed Grantham village now and were just around the corner from Downton. Rose looked out of the window and saw the magnificient house appear in front of her, that would be her home for the next months, maybe years to come.

She wasn't afraid of the future. She knew the family well and she was glad that she wasn't forced to go to India with her parents. She liked the Crawleys. Of course it was a very inconvenient time for them to have her, with Matthew's tragic death only six months ago. But she was determined to be happy here. Yes, she definitely wanted to be happy.


End file.
